Next year, I'm starting in June

Because I started a new part-time job in October (in addition to my fabric store), I didn't get around to starting Christmas gifts until late. Really late. Compounding the problem was that my machine went into the shop after Thanksgiving. So, basically, all of December I was a frantic mess trying to get Christmas gifts made and shipped. It was not a pretty sight. All thoughts of keeping the household clean were totally abandoned, and I became so far behind in email that I'm surprised my friends and family did not send the police to my door asking if I was ok.

Anyway, I managed to somehow get it all done (not without a few major meltdowns on my part) and most everything arrived before Christmas. Here are the fruits of my labor.

My niece casually mentioned a few months ago that she loved peace signs. I instantly knew exactly what I was going to make for her. This is the Farbenmix Bandito pattern, which I've been dying to try for some time. Great pattern, but I do feel the arms are rather gorilla-ish. I wish I had taken off a few inches in the arm length.

 

Pattern: Farbenmix Bandito

Embroidery: Huups

Fabric: Turquoise Bamboo French Terry from Bamblue Fabrics

While we were in Disney World, my oldest son and his 7 year old cousin bonded over endless games of Mario played on the Nintendo DS. When I asked Shane what he thought his cousin would like, the obvious answer was, "Something with Mario on it." This is an Ottobre sweatshirt, also made from bamboo french terry. The actual sweatshirt is about 1000X better in person than it is in the picture. For some reason, I cannot for the life of me get a good picture of a sweatshirt. Anyway, it is so wonderfully soft and cozy. When I talked to him on Christmas day, he very diplomatically said it was one of his favorite presents.

 

Pattern: Ottobre 1/07

Fabric: Periwinkle Bamboo French Terry from Bamblue Fabrics

 Mario fabric is from Ixat on Etsy

And finally, during our Disney World trip the eldest of the three innocently asked if I could make her a Vera Bradley-type backpack. I stammered out a positive reply even though I was not at all sure I could manage it. First, we're talking about woven fabric here, something I usually don't do. Second, the zippers! Lots of zippers! And god only knows what else. I was petrified of this project. But I don't get the opportunity to do very much for these kids since they live across the country from us, so I bravely decided to give it a try. 

The only backpack pattern review I could find was from Cindy Taylor Oates. Luckily, it was a positive review, and since I've used her patterns before with much success, I decided to go with it. Despite all my massive trepidation about making a backpack, it really came together very easily. Time consuming, perhaps, but the instructions are very clear (at least in most parts. I think she kind of leaves you hanging a bit on the last part, the interior binding). I was totally ecstatic when I finished it (only had to use my seam ripper once!). It seemed to go over pretty well with the recipient, too, so everyone is happy.

  

 

Pattern: Cindy Taylor Oats Backpacks
Fabric: Amy Butler Love Bliss Double Sided Quilted

Having made something for the kids, naturally I had to make something for their mother, too (my husband's sister). I eventually settled on an infinity scarf and a zippered pouch; the latter is made entirely in the embroidery machine. Once I got the hang of those pouches (which took a lot of trial and error), I became addicted and made a ton of them. Actually, the same can be said for the infinity scarves. And with those, I finally had to get over my abject horror of hand sewing; once you turn them out, they really need to be hand-stitched closed. I hunkered down over YouTube to figure out how to do a simple slipstitch. This is pretty embarassing to admit, really, as your average 10 year old can probably hand sew better than I can, but in the end I think I made it past a huge mental hurdle.

Here are my zippered pouches. As you can see, I made several. The top row (for my nieces and nephew) are filled with Target gift cards; the bottom row (for my sister, my SIL, my mom and my nephew's wife) are filled with yummy scented soap.

Pattern: Zippy Bags In The Hoop by www.stickbaer.com

And here are the infinity scarves. I actually got the idea for these from Suzanne of Sewzanne's Fabric, who had posted on her Facebook page a YouTube tutorial. Once I got past the handsewing part, these are soooo simple. I made myself one of the zig zag ones, and got a million compliments when I wore it. I made the zig zag ones for my sister and my SIL, and the bamboo jersey ones for my nephew's wife and my other sister.

Fabric: Zig Zag Crochet Knit, Sunset from Bamblue Fabrics

Pattern: Infinity Scarf from SecretLifeOfaBionerd

Fabric: Ocean Blue Bamboo Jersey from Bamblue Fabrics

My middle sister taught me how to sew, so I always feel a little weird giving her sewn gifts. But many months ago, she commented on a top I'd made for myself out of this fabric, saying how much she loved the design. I very quickly de-listed my remaining bit of it and saved it for her. I decided to use Simplicity 3918 because it was cute and seemed pretty fool proof. My sister is much bigger in the, ahem, bosom than I am, so that's why it looks rather large on me. Overall, I'm happy how this turned out and will be making many more versions of this pattern in the future.

 

Fabric: Floral Rayon Jersey from Bamblue Fabrics (now sold out)

Pattern: Simplicity 3918

Here is a baby set I made for my cousin's first baby. I'm a little embarassed that the child was born in June but I hadn't gotten around to making an outfit until now. I've made a dozen of these baby sets, but none gave me the trouble that this one did. Absolutely everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I won't bore you with the details; sufficeth to say that the binding reduced me to tears (I learned the hard way that neither bamboo jersey nor bamboo french terry can be put through the binder on my CS machine. A very sad discovery, I assure you). Anyway, it turned out ok in the end. 

Pattern: Ottobre 5/06 (hat is NCBE)

Fabric: Turquoise and Pumpkin Bamboo French Terry from Bamblue Fabrics

I needed something handmade for my MIL, but it is so hard. What to make for the woman who has everything? After consulting my husband, we settled on this, a little wallet done in the embroidery machine. These are pretty easy, and I had envisioned making more of these as gifts but ran out of time.

Embroidery Design: Purses in the hoop from www.stickbaer.com



My mother also falls into the category of a woman who has everything. But I began giving her journals about a dozen years ago, and now it has become a tradition. Not seeing anything spectacular during my journal shopping trips this year, it finally occurred to me that I could just buy a cheap journal and embroider a cover. If you ignore my lousy stabilizing job, it turned out pretty nicely. I love this embroidery design.

Embroidery Design: Emblibrary

Journal Cover Tutorial: Urban Threads

Am I finally on the last gift? Well, you see why I was so crazed for the last few weeks. My nephew's adorable little girl is now 2, so therefore is finally able to fit into Farbenmix patterns. Had to make her an Olivia.

Pattern: Farbenmix Olivia

Fabric: Turquoise velour + Stenzo print

Embroidery: Janea's World

Actually, after looking at all this and having nasty flashbacks, I think I'm going to begin sewing gifts for Christmas 2012 next week.

More Missoni and more recycling

As I said, I'm slowly but surely making myself a new Missoni wardrobe. I decided my wardrobe was incomplete without a zig zag hooded cardigan (I mean, of course, right?). The odd thing is that there really aren't many hooded sweater coat/cardigan patterns to be found anywhere. I did try a vintage-ish juniors pattern last year that was so enormous that I use it as a bathrobe. I finally found a vintage Kwik Sew pattern that generally fit the bill. That pattern coupled with this fabric give it a funky 70's vibe, which I happen to love but realize it may not be for everybody.

I lined it with the slate gray bamboo jersey that I have in the store, making this super-luxurious!

Pattern: Vintage Kwik Sew 619

Fabric: Zig Zag Crochet Knit in Jade

Still trying to decide what to do with the rest of my Missoni fabric, but you will probably see a Missoni Parts 3, 4, and 5 in future posts!

As my embroidery machine was still in the shop, I decided to continue recycling old t-shirts. I had forgotten how much fun it is, but of course using up more vintage shirts meant I had to restock my supplies. Skoober and I have spent the last few days perusing thrift stores looking for more. In the process, we found a Mario Kart robe in just his size, which I think has now become his most prized possession.

But anyway, I digress. Here are a few more recycled shirts for my older kiddos. This first one is actually a man's shirt made into a dress for my daughter, using a Jalie t-shirt pattern as a base:

And this one is a Farbenmix Antonia Scooby Doo shirt. The original shirt was enormous. It is really hard to imagine a grown man (and an awfully large one at that) wearing a Scooby Doo shirt, but that's probably why it was in Goodwill to begin with: